13-letter words containing n, a, b, i
- backgrounding — Present participle of background.
- backing group — a group of musicians providing an instrumental or vocal accompaniment for a pop singer
- backing light — Also called backing striplight, backing strip. Theater. a striplight providing diffused illumination for the background of a stage set.
- backing store — a computer storage device, usually a disk, that provides additional storage space for information so that it can be accessed and referred to when required and may be copied into the processor if needed
- backing track — a recorded instrumental or vocal accompaniment for a pop singer or pop number
- backpedalling — to retard the forward motion by pressing backward on the pedal, especially of a bicycle with coaster brakes.
- backstitching — Present participle of backstitch.
- backwardation — the difference between the spot price for a commodity, including rent and interest, and the forward price
- bacteriogenic — Caused by bacteria.
- bacteriolysin — an antibody which, when it combines with bacterial cells, causes lysis of those cells, thus destroying them
- bacteriotoxin — any toxin that kills bacteria
- bacterization — subjection to bacterial action
- badminton cup — a long refreshing drink of claret with soda water and sugar
- baffin island — the largest island of the Canadian Arctic, between Greenland and Hudson Bay. Area: 476 560 sq km (184 000 sq miles)
- bag-snatching — theft that involves snatching women's handbags
- baggage train — a train of wagons carrying the equipment needed by an army on the march
- bail bondsman — an individual or firm that lends bail money to defendants awaiting trial
- baking powder — Baking powder is an ingredient used in cake making. It causes cakes to rise when they are in the oven.
- balanced diet — a diet consisting of the proper quantities and proportions of foods needed to maintain health or growth.
- balanced line — a transmission line in which the oppositely directed components are symmetrical with respect to each other and to the ground.
- balancing act — If you perform a balancing act, you try to deal successfully with two or more people, groups, or situations that are in opposition to each other.
- balch springs — a town in NE Texas.
- balkanization — If you disapprove of the division of a country into separate independent states, you can refer to the Balkanization of the country.
- ball and ring — a simplified bead-and-reel turning, used especially in English and American furniture of the 17th century.
- ball handling — the control of the ball, as in basketball or soccer, by skillful dribbling and accurate passing.
- banana family — the plant family Musaceae, characterized by large treelike herbaceous plants of tropical regions, having a trunk formed by spiraling leaf sheaths, and bearing large leaves, flower clusters above leathery red-to-purple bracts, and fleshy fruit in clusters, including the banana and plantain.
- banana spider — a large, yellowish, tropical crab spider (Heteropoda venatoria) occasionally found in bunches of bananas shipped to the Temperate Zones
- band-aid baby — a child conceived to strengthen a faltering relationship
- banderilleros — Plural form of banderillero.
- bandicoot rat — any of three burrowing rats of the genera Bandicota and Nesokia, of S and SE Asia: family Muridae
- bandspreading — an additional tuning control in some radio receivers whereby a selected narrow band of frequencies can be spread over a wider frequency band, in order to give finer control of tuning
- banister back — a back of a chair or the like, usually having semicircular spindles between the top rail and the cross rail or seat.
- bank discount — interest on a loan deducted from the principal amount when the loan is made and based on the loan's face value
- bank examiner — a public official appointed under U.S. state or federal laws to inspect and audit the operations and accounts of banks in the examiner's jurisdiction.
- bank of issue — a bank, as a Federal Reserve Bank, empowered by a government to issue currency.
- banker's bill — a banknote
- banking hours — the hours during which a bank is open for business
- banking house — a more formal term for a bank
- bantamweights — Plural form of bantamweight.
- banzai attack — a mass attack of troops, without concern for casualties, as practised by the Japanese in World War II
- bar-and-grill — a place where food and alcoholic drinks are served to customers; a combined barroom and grillroom.
- bargain offer — something for sale at a low price
- bargain price — a low price
- baritone clef — an F clef locating F below middle C on the third line of the staff.
- barnsbreaking — noisy and exuberant activity; boisterous mischief-making
- baroclinicity — a common state of fluid stratification in which surfaces of constant pressure and others of constant density are not parallel but intersect.
- baronial hall — a large building or room owned by a baron
- barosinusitis — aerosinusitis.
- barrel engine — an engine having cylinders arranged around and parallel to a shaft, which they rotate by means of the contact of their piston rods with a swash plate or cam on the shaft.
- barrier-nurse — to tend (infectious patients) in isolation, to prevent the spread of infection